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FBI lab once again under scrutiny
Jul. 12th, 2012 08:00 amFBI to review lab work in thousands of cases.
Original Washington Post article here, may require registration to read.
The new review goes back at least as far as 1985. A previous review of FBI Forensic Lab work was done in the mid-90s which uncovered major problems and led to reforms, but obviously they must have reason to believe that the previous review didn't catch all the problems. Nor did their reformed culture stop systemic problems from occurring in later years.
Particularly troubling is that the FBI has apparently known about the problems with hair and fiber evidence for years and failed to act, a pattern that we've seen from them before.
Since 2009 the National Academy of Sciences has been pushing to put the science back into forensic science, and this latest FBI review appears to be at least in part a result of their efforts. Of course you can't help but wonder-- if they get it so wrong at the FBI level, how bad is it in the smaller crime labs around the country?
Original Washington Post article here, may require registration to read.
The new review goes back at least as far as 1985. A previous review of FBI Forensic Lab work was done in the mid-90s which uncovered major problems and led to reforms, but obviously they must have reason to believe that the previous review didn't catch all the problems. Nor did their reformed culture stop systemic problems from occurring in later years.
Particularly troubling is that the FBI has apparently known about the problems with hair and fiber evidence for years and failed to act, a pattern that we've seen from them before.
Since 2009 the National Academy of Sciences has been pushing to put the science back into forensic science, and this latest FBI review appears to be at least in part a result of their efforts. Of course you can't help but wonder-- if they get it so wrong at the FBI level, how bad is it in the smaller crime labs around the country?